Thinking of switching from Direct TV

[ebohatch]

2 years ago we moved out into the country (northwest Illinois), therefor cable is out, over the air programing OK but very few stations available.

I have been a satisfied Direct TV customer for 2 years now. Seeing some of the current Dish deals I am considering switching.

These questions are for people who have switched from one to the other within the last 3 - 4 months.

How Is the quality of one over the other?
How is the reliability of one over the other?

 

[boba]

Stay with D* you are happy and the grass isn't greener on the otherside of the fence. Picture quality is about the same but D* has the greatest potential with 2 new satellites ready to go D10 launched last month and D11 scheduled for Dec.

 

[gadgtfreek]

boba statement isnt completely true about D* having the greatest potential. The non pub members/supporters will see that soon enough.

I swapped from D* because of a HR20 issue(Had 5 in as many months and got tired of it).

Heres what I noticed, SD is about the same. HD on E* looks slightly better but I think the D* mpeg4 hd locals are supposed to look awesome. The 622 is a better dvr than the hr20, and can record 3 things at once if you have OTA.

I'm very happy with E*, the 622 and the great HD offering I have, plus its getting better on the 15th with more HD channels and hopefully external storage.

I think Dish has found a way to keep their lead, and they are firing the first shot on 8-15.

You'll be fine with either, just see what kind of deal and price package you can get with E* and compare it to D*. Use whichever one is right for you.

I went from total choice to the AT250/dish dvr advantage, heres my breakdown:

DVR Adv $49
AT250 add $10
HBO $10
HD pack $20

I have a $20 a month rebate for 10 months, and I got the home prot plan for free for 18 mo's with my contract.

 

[tsduke]

I don't see D* as having the greatest potential. Especially over the next 12 months and long term. Real short term, maybe. I have friends with D* and I'm not impressed with the SD quality. I haven't seen their HD so can't comment.

I would look at which one has the best package and pricing options that work for you. I will say that E*'s Vip622 is the best receiver I've seen or used of all providers.

 

[Poke]

Direct is behind on things when it comes to Dish! I had several friends that were long time Direct TV customers. All of them made the switch to Dish and they all said the same thing that they wished they had done it sooner. Dish is the HD Leader their DVR's are better everything about them is better. Don't get caught up in what some folks say some of them just don't have a clue. I just had a friend who knew no better go from Dish and Direct and now he is hating it. Right now with more HD getting ready to be added their should be some good promos going on for this month for new customers. The Grass is Greener on the Dish side of the fence and it always has been.

 

[KAB]

I have a good friend who made the switch, and he's very happy, especially with the new customer offers. He got a 622 and two 211's for free, plus additional rebates.

 

[mpeltz]

The 622 is a better dvr than the hr20, and can record 3 things at once if you have OTA.

True, but you can only record one OTA channel at a time and OTA is the best quality.

 

[gadgtfreek]

True, but you can only record one OTA channel at a time and OTA is the best quality.

Now that more channels are going HD, I d rather be able to record one OTA and 2 Sat HD channels at the same time than 2 OTA's.

 

[rad]

If you're interested in HD, why not wait until the 1/2 half of September and see what both providers are doing at that time, since that's when D*'s supposed to start adding all the new HD channels.

 

[Poke]

Yeah well I think in September things will be the same that is Dish will still be the HD leader. Direct ''might"" add a few channels but Dish will probably still have more like they do now.

 

[rad]

Yeah well I think in September things will be the same that is Dish will still be the HD leader. Direct ''might"" add a few channels but Dish will probably still have more like they do now.

Guess we'll just have to wait and see for sure who is the HD leader.

 

[JohnL]

Guess we'll just have to wait and see for sure who is the HD leader.

Rad,

Yes, but if DirecTV keeps on insisting on including part time OOM sports feeds as TRUE HD channels towards the HD channel count, then sure DirecTV will have a lot more HD channels, but with little or no Additional content for the average NON OOM subscriber.

DirecTV will have to ADD a lot of National HD content just to catch up with Dish Network. Remember by the Middle of September Dish's HD channel count will bump up from 31 HD channels right NOW to at least 46.

Time will tell, but both DirecTV and Dish are fighting for the HD subscriber. The two DBS companies will likely have very similar National HD offerings. The biggest difference will likely by OOM Sports, RSN's and Local into Local HD coverage. As usual YMMV.

John

 

[rad]

Rad,

Yes, but if DirecTV keeps on insisting on including part time OOM sports feeds as TRUE HD channels towards the HD channel count, then sure DirecTV will have a lot more HD channels, but with little or no Additional content for the average NON OOM subscriber.

DirecTV will have to ADD a lot of National HD content just to catch up with Dish Network. Remember by the Middle of September Dish's HD channel count will bump up from 31 HD channels right NOW to at least 46.

Time will tell, but both DirecTV and Dish are fighting for the HD subscriber. The two DBS companies will likely have very similar National HD offerings. The biggest difference will likely by OOM Sports, RSN's and Local into Local HD coverage. As usual YMMV.

John

D*'s counts do include those but let's not include RSN or sports subscription channels. Member nataraj over at AVS has been nice enough to put a chart together at HDTV Channel Lineups on DBS, Cable, FiOS, 4DTV! - AVS Forum there he lists out all the current and announced (either by the provider or distributor) HD channels. His counts show E* with a total of 46 current and announced additions, which includes the 15 Voom channels. His D* counts shows a total of 53 current and announced additions, which do not count RSN or sports subscriptions.

So if his numbers are correct D* will have a 7 channel lead over E* in 24x7 national HD channels. Not included in those counts are all the RSN's that D* will be able to carry in 24x7 vs. E*'s part time coverage.

Now yep, all these are based on announcements, we'll just have to see if they all actually pan out. Should be an interesting rest of the year and beginning to 2008 when the additional Disney and more HBO/Cineman channels come online.

 

[redman042]

I switched from DirectTV to Dish about a year ago and am very happy I did. The ViP622 DVR is the best I've ever used. It is not perfect, but overall is the most capable and reliable, and I'm very much looking forward to the external storage, remote programming and networking capabilities that are just around the corner. I have not heard good things about the HR-20, though I know it has been patched many times so perhaps most of the issues are resolved. Who knows.

If you are huge on sports, you might want to stick with DirecTV. I think that's the main deciding factor for many of their customers. But if that isn't a big deal to you, or regular broadcast sports meet your needs, then think hard about Dish, especially if you like HD. Dish is way ahead on HD channel selection and quality right now.

I know DirecTV is supposedly going to leapfrog past Dish on HD service, but Dish has some tricks up their sleeve too, and my bottom line is WHAT ARE THEY OFFERING NOW? I'm sick of hearing about the future. In a year, if DirecTV is THAT much better, then I'll just switch again. But I'm not going to waste a year of my life staring at an HDTV that is not getting the best possible HD programming, in the hopes that my provider will get off their arse.

 

[DishInSD]

I have had good quality and reliability and imo 622 is the best hd-dvr available. it also is great ota. service was horrible though, took 6 times for them to come out and fix a problem permanently, rarely showing up on time and being fairly rude when they came.

 

[JohnL]

D*'s counts do include those but let's not include RSN or sports subscription channels. Member nataraj over at AVS has been nice enough to put a chart together at HDTV Channel Lineups on DBS, Cable, FiOS, 4DTV! - AVS Forum there he lists out all the current and announced (either by the provider or distributor) HD channels. His counts show E* with a total of 46 current and announced additions, which includes the 15 Voom channels. His D* counts shows a total of 53 current and announced additions, which do not count RSN or sports subscriptions.

So if his numbers are correct D* will have a 7 channel lead over E* in 24x7 national HD channels. Not included in those counts are all the RSN's that D* will be able to carry in 24x7 vs. E*'s part time coverage.

Rad,

Yes, I know Dish's HD channel count will be 46 with the Announced additions, but Dish is also to announce more HD mid September (rumoured to be another 5-7 Channels), which by my calculations would put Dish and DirecTV on a more or less equal footing.

The bottomline is that if these plans pan out, which they should, both DBS providers will have more or less EVERY HD channel available, regardless of which DBS company you pick. Several of the DirecTV Signed "Contracted ADDITIONS" are channels that have yet to announce when those channels will even be available.


John

 

[rad]

Yes, I know Dish's HD channel count will be 46 with the Announced additions, but Dish is also to announce more HD mid September (rumoured to be another 5-7 Channels), which by my calculations would put Dish and DirecTV on a more or less equal footing.

I thought E* customers didn't believe in not counting new channels until they're actually announced vs. D*'s counting promises

 

[MikeD-C05]

I see that the new announced channels on that AVS chart for DISH include Sci-Fi and the STarz extra movie channels and no mention of any extra HBO movie channels. I am not aware that DISH announced that they will carry any of those channels publicly.

 

[Jim5506]

Sci-Fi is not even aware that it is going HD.

 

[schneid]

Left DirecTV after 10 Years

I felt DirecTV was resting on their laurels, so I switched to ATT HomeZone. I was enticed by the ability to schedule via the web and download movies on demand. Dish has more HD offerings too and even though they don't have my locals in HD I can get them off-air and the box transparently integrates them allowing recording, etc.

For now, in my opinion, Dish is better. Fortunately, I didn't sign any contracts and if DirecTV actually keeps their promisses and Dish doesn't keep up, I could well go back in six months.